1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inserting apparatus and method, and more particularly to an inserting apparatus and method for placing a product in an envelope using such an inserting apparatus
2. Background of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus provided with:                a product assembly path comprising a product conveyor and at least one feeder for feeding a, possibly composite, product which is to be placed in an envelope,        an inserting module provided with a magazine for envelopes and a positioning device for positioning the envelopes in a receiving position, in which receiving position, in use, the product coming from the product assembly path is placed in the envelope,        a discharge path in which the envelope with the product placed therein is discharged from the inserting module for further processing, wherein the discharge path has a discharge conveying direction which is substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the inserting apparatus.        
Such an apparatus is known from practice and has been marketed by applicant. The known apparatus is of modular structure and is provided with a product assembly path which comprises a number of feeders which are arranged along or above a pusher conveyor. Each feeder feeds a product to be placed in an envelope to a position on the pusher conveyor, so that thus composite products can be obtained. Such a product can comprise, for instance, a main document with a number of annexes. Next, the product, which may or may not be composite, is supplied to an inserting module.
The international patent application WO03061988, of the applicant, describes an advantageous embodiment of the apparatus, an example of which is shown in FIGS. 1-2. This apparatus comprises a product assembly path 1 having a pusher conveyor 2 and at least one feeder 4 for feeding a, possibly composite, product which is to be placed in an envelope. Herein, the inserting module is provided with an endless conveyor 12′ with grippers 13′ (see FIG. 2), such as, for instance, a toothed belt or chain with grippers, the endless conveyor 12′ following a path such that the grippers 13′ thereof can engage an envelope contained in the magazine and, as a result of the travel of the conveyor, can pull the envelope from the magazine. The grippers 13′ can position a respective envelope in another part of the path in the receiving position.
In this known apparatus, the conveying direction of the mentioned discharge path is perpendicular to the conveying direction of the inserting module. Three endless conveyor belts 22, 23, 24 are provided (see FIG. 2), wherein one conveying part of a first conveyor belt 22 is disposed at least partly against a conveying part of a second conveyor belt 23. The envelope with product advanced by the intermediate conveyor is moved into the nip defined by the two conveyor belts, so that the envelope with product is clamped between the two conveying parts. Thereafter, the envelope can be conveyed further (in a inclined upward direction) and ejected onto the discharge path. The discharge path is provided with a stop 30′ against which products supplied by the discharge conveyor belts come to abut, so that they are aligned. The known discharge path is provided with a vacuum conveyor belt and with sealing means not represented in the drawing, for sealing the envelope. These sealing means comprise, for instance, an apparatus for wetting the sealing flap of the envelope and a guideway for gradually folding over the sealing flap during advancement of the envelope along the discharge path. Instead of a wetting device, a hot-melt glue dispensing unit may be provided. During use, the known apparatus can move an envelope with product further between the conveying parts of the conveyor belts until it comes to lie against the stop to be subsequently discharged in the discharge path in transverse direction.